Mar 18, 2017

Israeli military aircraft have launched three airstrikes in the northwestern part of the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime goes ahead with its acts of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal territory, local sources say.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an Israeli combat drone had struck a military site in al-Sudaniya district on Saturday afternoon, completely destroying the building, Arabic-language Wafa news agency reported.

An Israeli F-16 fighter jet fired two missiles into the same area shortly afterward. No immediate reports of casualties were available though.

The developments came only a few hours after Israeli battle tanks fired three rounds of shell at a site northwest of Gaza City and another target in Beit Lahia city. No injuries were reported.

Earlier, Israeli media outlets claimed a locally-made rocket had been fired from the Gaza Strip, and landed in an open area in southern Israeli-occupied territories, causing no damage or injuries.

The Israeli military frequently bombs the Gaza Strip, with civilians being the main target of such attacks.

On March 16, Israeli military aircraft targeted areas west of Dayr al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip, and an empty patch of agricultural land east of Gaza City. No injuries were reported.

Israeli F-16 jets also bombed Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza City, causing power outages across the area.

On March 9, Israeli shells slammed into the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, al-Qararah town north of Khan Yunis and Dayr al-Balah, but there were no casualties.

At least four people sustained injuries on February 27 after Israeli fighter jets struck the Nahda neighborhood of the border town of Rafah.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The Israeli military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. Over 11,100 others were also wounded in the war.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/03/18/514824/Israel-airstrikes-Gaza-Strip-Sudaniy...

Published on Mar 23, 2017

An Israeli policeman who attacked a Palestinian truck driver has been suspended and is facing a criminal investigation.
The incident was caught on video, and has caused widespread outrage.

Al Jazeera's Paul Chaderjian reports.

Human Rights Watch has denounced Israel for "systematically" banning the international group's researchers from entering the blockaded Gaza Strip to document Tel Aviv's abuses.

In a 47-page report released on Monday, the New-York based rights group said the restrictions have been imposed by the Israeli regime since 2008, adding that only one exceptional permit was granted to the foreign researchers last year.

HRW also questioned Tel Aviv's claims that it was conducting its own probes and that there was no need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate serious Israeli crimes against Palestinians over the past decades.

"If Israel wants the ICC prosecutor to take seriously its argument that its criminal investigations are adequate, a good first step would be to allow human rights researchers to bring relevant information to light," said Sari Bashi, Israel/Palestine advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

The rights group also criticized Egypt for barring it and the UK-based Amnesty International from entering Gaza through its territory since 2012.

Bashi urged all parties to "change their policies to protect the vital work of human rights groups."

Since 2007, Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza which has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates and where poverty is widespread.

Israel has also launched several wars on the enclave, the last of which began in early July 2014. The 50-day military aggression killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children. Over 11,100 others -- including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people -- were also wounded.

Human Rights Watch, the UN and local and international human rights organizations have already said Israel’s latest war on the besieged Gaza Strip amounted to apparent war crimes.

The Israeli military frequently targets the Gaza Strip, with civilians being the main victims of such attacks.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/04/03/516534/HRW-Israel-barring-entry-Gaza/

Apr 25, 2017

Israeli military forces have wrecked the Bedouin village of Araqeeb in the Negev region of southern Israel once again as the Tel Aviv regime presses ahead with its land expropriation policies and settlement construction activities to uproot Palestinians.

Israeli bulldozers entered the community, located 8 kilometers (five miles) north of Beersheba, on Tuesday morning and leveled lands as well as makeshift structures built in the area.

Israeli bulldozers, escorted by groups of Israeli soldiers, have frequently raided Araqeeb and detained several Bedouins.

The first demolition of al-Araqeeb took place on June 27, 2010, and the village has been ruined 112 times ever since.

The last wrecking of al-Araqeeb occurred on April 5, when Israeli bulldozers tore down several houses.

Rights groups argue that the demolition of al-Araqeeb and other Bedouin villages is an attempt by the Israeli regime to uproot indigenous Palestinians from the Negev region and confiscate more land for the expansion of settlements.

Israel detains 15 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Meanwhile, at least 15 Palestinians, including three minors, have been seized by Israeli forces during overnight military raids in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian and Israeli sources said five of the abductions took place in Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.



Two Palestinians were also nabbed in the town of Huwarra. Israeli forces seized the other Palestinians in the village of Haris, the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem, as well as the town of Beit Fajjar.

Israel is holding a total of 6,500 Palestinians, including women, children and lawmakers, in prisons and detention facilities across the occupied territories, three Palestinian non-governmental organizations say.

In a joint press released on April 15, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs (CDA), the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said 57 women and 300 children were among the detainees.

The statement noted that 500 inmates were being incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, which is a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in Israeli detention facilities without trial or charge.

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/04/25/519416/Israeli-forces-demolition-Bedouin-vi...

May 1, 2017

Israeli forces have attacked a number of Palestinians in the West Bank town of Sabastiya near the northeastern city of Nablus who were staging a sit-in to show solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners kept in harsh conditions in Israeli jails.

Local media sources reported on Monday that Israeli troops opened fire on the Palestinians, who had staged the sit-in during the night, targeting them with live ammunition.

Several of the tents that had been set up by the demonstrators were torched by Israeli forces.

After the initial raid, Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian youths and destroyed several cars that had been parked near the location of the sit-in.

Palestinians have been taking part in numerous sit-in protests in the occupied West Bank to show their support for the inmates who have staged an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli jails.

More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from various political factions launched a mass hunger strike more than two weeks ago in protest at their dire conditions in Israeli jails.

The inmates on hunger strike seek better access to medical care, an increase in visit duration from 45 to 90 minutes, the installation of phones to enable prisoners to stay in touch with their families, and an end to “administrative detentions,” among other things.

The practice of “administrative detention” involves holding Palestinian prisoners for renewable periods of detention without charge or trial.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/05/01/520160/Palestine-Sabastiya-sitin-Israeli-at...

Young Palestinian hunger striker dies at his West Bank home

May 2, 2017

A young Palestinian man becomes the first victim of an open-ended mass hunger strike by Palestinian inmates in Israeli jails as well as their supporters in the occupied West Bank.

The 30-year-old victim from the city of Ramallah, identified as Mazan al-Maghrebi, passed away at his home in Ramallah on Monday due to a kidney disease after joining the hunger strike in protest at the inhumane treatment of Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons, Saba news agency reported.

More than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners have joined the protest action dubbed the Freedom and Dignity Strike since April 17 which was initially called by former Fatah movement leader, Marwan Barghouti, to protest conditions in Israeli regime’s prisons.

Meanwhile, the media committee of the hunger strike announced on Sunday that several of the hunger-striking inmates had lost 10 kilograms of their weight, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency.

A number of the hunger strikers held in the Israeli Ofer prison are suffering from low blood pressure, severe headaches as well as stomach and joint problems, according to the report.

It further noted that the Israeli authorities do not allow the Palestinian prisoners to drink cool water and instead force them to drink warm water.

Ma’an also reported on Monday that a hunger-striking inmate identified as Ayman Bisharat, who was released from prison on Sunday evening after being held captive by the regime for 16 years, told crowds in his hometown of Tammun in the Tubas district of the occupied West Bank that the health of the hunger strikers was deteriorating.

He held the Tel Aviv regime responsible for the well-being of the hunger-striking protesters.

Bisharat, however, insisted that the hunger strikers remained in high spirits and were determined to achieve their goals, calling on the world to support their “heroic” struggle.

According to January figures provided by the Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, nearly 6,500 Palestinians are held captive in Israeli jails, 536 of them without charge or trial.

Palestinian prisoners have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in efforts to voice their outrage at the Israeli regime’s policy of enforcing administrative detentions, which amounts to jailing Palestinians for up to six months without charge or trial.

Palestinian inmates complain that they are often subjected to assault and torture inside Israeli prisons.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/05/02/520268/Palestine-mass-hunger-strike-Israeli...